JP4433387B2 - Automatic warehouse - Google Patents

Description

  A rack capable of storing a plurality of pallets loaded with articles; a stacker crane that travels along the rack and receives and loads the pallets; and a plurality of loading and unloading stations that transfer the pallets of the stacker crane. Regarding automatic warehouses.

  The conventional automatic warehouse illustrated in FIG. 5 includes racks a and b having a plurality of storage positions for storing a pallet p for loading a plurality of articles m, and a rail r laid between the racks a and b. And a loading / unloading station c for delivering a pallet carried by the stacker crane s. The stacker crane s is provided with a carriage that can be moved up and down along the mast, and the pallet p is removed by an extendable fork provided in the carriage. In the example of FIG. 5, the loading / unloading station c includes a turntable t that can be rotated based on the operation of the operator (for example, by the operator's hand or by the operation of the operator's buttons), and the pallet placed on the turntable The direction of p can be changed. Such automatic warehouses are disclosed in the following patent documents.

JP-A-8-91507

  According to the above automatic warehouse, when the so-called picking operation is performed in which the operator overnight selects and takes out one of the plurality of articles m loaded on the pallet p while the pallet p is conveyed to the loading / unloading station c. The title happens. That is, when performing the picking work, it is assumed that the operation overnight stands near, for example, one end y of the loading / unloading station c. In this state, by rotating the turntable t based on the operation of the operator overnight, the operation involves moving the article m toward one end y. This operation is frequently performed when the article m is away from the one end y in order to prevent the operator m from reaching the article m or working in an unreasonable posture. In addition, after the pallet p is transported to the loading / unloading station c, the operation evening itself turns the turntable t in small increments even when the operation overnight cannot immediately identify where the desired article m is placed on the pallet p. It takes time and effort to search for the item m.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an automatic warehouse capable of efficiently performing picking work after leaving a warehouse.

  An automatic warehouse according to the present invention includes a rack that can store a plurality of pallets loaded with articles, a stacker crane that travels along the rack and loads and unloads the pallets, and a plurality that delivers pallets of the stacker cranes. A turntable that is disposed in the middle of the traveling section of the stacker crane and rotates around a vertical axis, and a loading / unloading operation of the stacker crane and rotation of the turntable. A control device for controlling driving; input means for inputting an article code for specifying a plurality of articles stacked on the pallet; and a storage section for specifying a plurality of storage section areas dividing the pallet in the pallet Inventory information storage means for recording the article code in correspondence with the code, and the plurality of storage division areas. A work section storage means for recording a work section code, each of which identifies a plurality of work section areas in which the individual entry / exit stations are divided, and a picking area defined in any of the plurality of work section areas, The control device recognizes an article code of the article to be delivered as a delivery command code, and selects a storage classification code of a pallet on which the article specified by the delivery command code is loaded from the plurality of delivery / removal stations. Based on the fact that the storage category code corresponding to the delivery command code is different from the work category code that identifies the picking area of the one entry / exit station, and is collated with the operation category code of the one entry / exit station. A pallet on which goods to be delivered are loaded is selected from the rack by the stacker crane. The turntable is rotated in the direction in which the storage division area to which the article to be delivered belongs coincides with the picking area while being delivered to the entry / exit station. The pallet is delivered from the turntable to the selected entry / exit station.

  According to the automatic warehouse according to the present invention, it is possible to input an article code for specifying each article loaded on the pallet. For this reason, each time a new article is received, if the article code of the new article is recorded in correspondence with the storage classification code that specifies a plurality of storage classification areas divided into pallets, one article code is recorded. Based on this, the pallet on which the article specified by the article code is loaded can be specified, and it can be recognized whether the specified article belongs to any of a plurality of storage division areas defined on the pallet. .

  On the other hand, if a plurality of work division areas that match a plurality of storage division areas of the pallet are defined in each loading / unloading station, and one of the plurality of work division areas is defined as a picking area, the plurality of work division areas , And the picking area can be specified as work classification codes.

  When the above-mentioned article is issued, one article station that recognizes the article code of the article (hereinafter referred to as “item to be delivered”) as a delivery instruction code and is selected from a plurality of entry / exit stations. The storage division code of the pallet on which the goods are loaded is collated with the work division code. When it is determined that the storage classification code corresponding to the delivery instruction code is different from the work classification code for identifying the picking area of one entry / exit station, the pallet on which the delivery item is loaded is loaded from the rack into the entry / exit station. During the transfer to the turntable, the turntable is once transferred to the turntable, and the turntable is rotated in a direction in which the storage division area to which the goods to be delivered coincide with the picking area. As a result of the above determination, if the position of the outgoing goods coincides with the picking area of the incoming / outgoing station from the beginning, the pallet on which the outgoing goods are loaded is transferred directly to the incoming / outgoing station instead of being transferred to the turntable.

  For example, if the picking area is set at or near the place where the operator performing the picking work stands, the turntable is rotated to change the direction of the pallet based on the fact that the position of the output item does not match the picking area. Then, the pallet on which the goods are loaded is transported from the turntable to the loading / unloading station, so that the position of the outgoing goods can be matched with the picking area. As a result, the distance from the operator who performs the picking operation to the unloading items loaded on the pallet can be optimized, so that it is possible to solve the problem when the operator has to work in an unreasonable posture, The picking operation can be performed quickly and easily.

  Moreover, as a result of rotating the turntable as described above, the goods to be delivered are always located in a limited range of the picking area, so that the operator is not required to search for the whole goods to find the goods to be delivered. be able to. Furthermore, in the automatic warehouse according to the present invention, if the turntable has a drive mechanism in the existing automatic warehouse, the operation control of the stacker crane and the turntable can be easily realized only by changing the program that takes the operation command. Therefore, the manufacturing cost is extremely low, and the capital investment can be minimized.

  Furthermore, according to the automatic warehouse according to the present invention, one loading / unloading station selected from a plurality of loading / unloading stations is specified by a station code that can be input from the input means. When it is necessary to define the picking area, when changing the picking area or increasing / decreasing the number of picking areas, these settings can be performed simply by inputting the desired station code from the input means by the operator etc. Can do.

  Further, according to the automatic warehouse according to the present invention, the work classification code recorded in the inventory information storage means can be updated based on the storage classification area of the pallet whose direction is changed according to the rotation of the turntable. For this reason, as a result of rotating the turntable as described above, the storage division area of the pallet that has been stored in the rack before delivery and the storage division area of the pallet that has finished picking work after delivery are different. Even if the direction of the turntable does not return to the state before leaving, when re-leaving the same pallet, it is possible to accurately recognize what is belonging to each of the storage categories of the same pallet. The above effects can be achieved repeatedly.

  An automatic warehouse according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below. Detailed illustrations and descriptions of obvious technologies such as stacker cranes, turntables, microcomputers, and racks are omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic warehouse 1 according to the first embodiment includes two rows of racks 4 and 5 each having a plurality of storage positions of pallets 2 on which articles are loaded, and rails 31 laid between the racks 4 and 5. A stacker crane 3 that travels on the road, a first loading / unloading station 8 and a second loading / unloading station 9 that are disposed at each end of the racks 4 and 5, and a turn that is disposed in the middle of the traveling section of the stacker crane 3. Table 7 is provided. In addition, the racks 4 and 5 count the storage positions in the height direction as “stages”, and count from the bottom as one stage, two stages,..., And the storage positions in a direction parallel to the traveling direction of the stacker crane 3. Is counted as “ream” and counted from the side closer to the loading / unloading station 8 as one station, two stations,.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the automatic warehouse 1 mainly includes a control device 10 that transmits a control signal for controlling its operation to the stacker crane 3, first input means 11 mainly including a barcode reader and the like, and a keyboard. Storage means 14 including a second input means 15, an inventory information storage means 12 comprising a memory in which information that can be accessed by the control device 10 in a timely manner, and a work division storage means 13 also comprising a memory, Is provided.

  The pallet 2 may be a frame or a box as long as the pallet 2 can be transported by the stacker crane 3 in a state in which the article is loaded, in addition to a frame that is picked up by the fork of the stacker crane 3 while the article is loaded on the receiving surface. . Here, the “article” includes all items that can be distributed such as luggage, parts, materials, and foods, and further includes a case or a container for storing them. The stacker crane 3 can travel along the rail 31, and a fork capable of moving forward and backward in and out of the rack 4 or the rack 5 is provided on a carriage that is supported up and down along the mast.

  The loading / unloading stations 8 and 9 include station carriages 20 and 21 that can travel between a position where the stacker crane 3 exchanges the pallet p and a position where the operator picks.

  The turntable 7 is connected to a drive source such as an electric motor via a speed reducer, and is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise in FIG. 1 by activating this drive source. The activation / stop control of the drive source is performed based on a control signal sent from the control device 10.

  The control device 10 is mainly composed of a CPU, and constitutes a microcomputer together with the first input means 11, the second input means 15, the storage means 14, and the display unit 16. The storage unit 14 may be any storage medium such as a hard disk that can record a program that can be read by the control device 10 in a timely manner. The inventory information storage unit 12 and the work category storage unit 13 may be separate storage media. However, the storage areas corresponding to the inventory information storage unit 12 and the work category storage unit 13 are stored in one hard disk or the like. May be set. The first input means 11 can input an article code for identifying each article loaded on the plurality of pallets 2 one by one. For example, each time a new article is received, the control device 10 recognizes the article code unique to the article written as a barcode on the tag using the first input means 11. And the control apparatus 10 can distinguish this newly received goods from many articles already in stock.

  Moreover, the control apparatus 10 can determine the storage classification area | region which divided each cargo receiving surface of the some pallet 2 into 2 or more, and can recognize these as a storage classification code. The illustrated storage division areas A to D are examples in which the receiving surface is divided into four parts, but the receiving surface may be divided into two or three parts, or may be divided into five or more parts. The inventory information storage means 12 associates the storage classification codes for specifying the storage classification areas A to D for each pallet 2 with the article codes input from the first input means 11 as illustrated in FIG. Record.

  FIG. 3 means that the storage classification code of the article specified by the article code “0001” is “113 (A)”, and the storage classification code of the article specified by the article code “0002”. Means “215 (C)”. The storage classification code “113 (A)” is stored in the storage division area A of the pallet 2 ′ in addition to the article being stored in the first and third pallets 2 ′ of the rack 4. The storage classification code “215 (C)” means that the article is stored in the first tier and five pallets 2 ′ of the other rack 5, and the article is stored in the pallet 2 ′. It means that it is loaded into the divided amount area C.

  On the other hand, the control device 10 distinguishes the first and second loading / unloading stations 8 and 9 from each other by a station code, and each of the first and second loading / unloading stations 8 and 9 has a plurality of storage division areas. A plurality of work division areas A ′ to D ′ that match A to D are defined, and any one of the plurality of work division areas A ′ to D ′ is defined as a picking area, and these work division areas A ′ to D ′ and Recognized as a work classification code that identifies the picking area.

  When the number of loading / unloading stations is increased / decreased, the above station code can be input from the second input means 15 by the operator or can be changed. The picking area can be set / changed according to the situation of the premises where the automatic warehouse 1 is installed. For example, the picking area of the first loading / unloading station 8 may be C ′. This setting is based on the operator performing the picking work while standing near one end y of the first loading / unloading station 8. Similarly, the picking area of the second loading / unloading station 9 may be set as C ′, but considering that the operator stands near the side X of the second loading / unloading station 9 and performs the picking work B It may be changed to ', or both B' and C 'may be set as the picking area.

  Below, the delivery by the automatic warehouse 1 which concerns on this invention is demonstrated based on FIG. 1 thru | or FIG. S1 to S8 in the sentence represent steps in the flowchart of FIG.

  That is, the articles received in the automatic warehouse 1 are stored in the rack 4 or the rack 5 while being loaded on the pallet 2. For the articles stored in this way, an article code for specifying each of them is already input to the control device 10 via the first input means 11 (S1) and stored in the inventory information storage means 12. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the inventory information storage means 12 specifies a plurality of storage division areas A to D determined by dividing the article codes of all articles by dividing the cargo receiving surface of the pallet 2. Records corresponding to the code. Therefore, the control device 10 can specify the pallet 2 on which the article specified by this is loaded based on one article code, and further, what kind of article is in any of a plurality of storage division areas defined on the pallet 2. It can recognize whether it is loaded.

  When there is a request to issue one item out of many items stored in the racks 4 and 5, the item code of the item to be issued (hereinafter referred to as “item to be delivered”) is issued. The operator inputs the command code to the second input means 15 (S2). When a delivery command code including an article code is sent from the second input means 15 to the control device 10, the control device 10 travels the stacker crane 3 toward the pallet 2 (including 2 ') on which the delivery items are loaded. Then, the operation of unloading the pallet 2 from the rack 4 or the rack 5 is started (S3). Moreover, based on said delivery command code, the control apparatus 10 selects either the 1st loading / unloading station 8 or the 2nd loading / unloading station 9, and specifies the storage division area A'-D '. The storage classification code corresponding to the delivery command code is collated with the work classification code (S4).

  Here, the control device 10 selects which one of the first and second loading / unloading stations 8 and 9 is selected when the pallet 2 discharged prior to one of the two remains. As such, it may be specified in advance by a program. Alternatively, the operator may voluntarily input a station code of a desired work station and select it in accordance with the operation in which the operator inputs the exit command code.

  Subsequently, the control device 10 determines whether or not the position of the output item coincides with the above-described picking area C ′ (S5). Based on this result, the control device 10 executes the following control. For example, if the outgoing goods belong to the storage division area A, in other words, when the pallet 2 is transported to one of the first and second incoming / outgoing stations 8 and 9, the position of the outgoing goods is the work division area A ′. First, the stacker crane 3 transports the pallet 2 loaded with goods to the turntable 7 (S6). Then, the turntable 7 is rotated 180 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise in FIG. 1 (S7), so that the storage sorting area A of the pallet 2 placed on the turntable 7 is picked (work sorting area). Match C '.

  Further, for example, when the first loading / unloading station 8 is selected, if the goods to be delivered belong to the storage sorting area B (work sorting area B ′), the turntable 7 is rotated 90 degrees clockwise in FIG. By doing this (S7), the storage division area B of the pallet 2 is made to coincide with the picking area C ′. Alternatively, when the goods to be delivered belong to the storage division area D (work division area D ′), the turntable 7 is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise in FIG. 1 to change the storage division area D of the pallet 2 to the picking area. Match C '.

  Furthermore, the control apparatus 10 conveys the pallet 2 turned in the direction with the rotation of the turntable 7 to the selected one of the first and second loading / unloading stations 8 and 9 (S8). However, if the delivery item has been loaded in the storage area C before delivery, the operation of transporting the pallet 2 to the turntable 7 as described above is omitted, and the pallet 2 is directly placed in the first or second entry / exit. Transport to stations 8 and 9.

  By appropriately rotating the turntable 7 as described above, it is possible to match the position of the outgoing goods with the picking area C 'and position the outgoing goods before the operator who performs the picking work. Therefore, the picking operation can be performed quickly and easily. Moreover, as a result of rotating the turntable 7 as described above, the goods to be delivered are always located in a limited range of the picking area C ′, so that the operator does not have to search for the goods to be delivered from the entire pallet 2. .

  Further, the above configuration has an advantage that even when an existing microcomputer or the like is applied as the control device 10, it can be easily realized only by changing a program that can be read by the microcomputer or the like in a timely manner.

  It should be noted that the present invention can be implemented in a mode in which various improvements, modifications, or variations are added based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the number of entry / exit stations 8 may be increased to three or more.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the system which an operator can perform the picking operation | work easily and rapidly after goods delivery is realizable.

The top view of the automatic warehouse which concerns on this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the principal part of the automatic warehouse which concerns on this invention. The list of the information recorded on the inventory information storage means applied to the automatic warehouse which concerns on this invention. The flowchart showing the delivery management process of the automatic warehouse which concerns on this invention. A plan view of a conventional automatic warehouse.

1: automatic warehouse 2: pallet 3: stacker crane 4, 5: rack 7: turntable 8, 9: loading / unloading station 10: control device 11, 15: input means 12: inventory information storage means 13: work division storage means 20 , 21: Station carts A, B, C, D: Storage division areas A ′, B ′, C ′, D ′; Work division areas (picking areas)

Claims (1)

A rack capable of storing a plurality of pallets loaded with articles; a stacker crane that travels along the rack to load and unload the pallets; and a plurality of loading and unloading stations that transfer the pallets of the stacker crane. Automatic warehouse,
A turntable that is disposed in the middle of the travel section of the stacker crane and that rotates around a vertical axis;
A control device for controlling the loading / unloading operation of the stacker crane and the rotational drive of the turntable;
Input means for inputting an article code for specifying a plurality of articles loaded on the pallet;
Inventory information storage means for recording a plurality of storage division areas obtained by dividing the pallet in correspondence with the storage division code for identifying the pallet, the article code correspondingly,
A work classification code that identifies each of a plurality of work division areas that divide each of the loading / unloading stations so as to match the plurality of storage division areas, and a picking area defined in any of the plurality of work division areas; A work category storage means for recording,
The control device recognizes an article code of the article to be delivered as a delivery instruction code, and selects a storage classification code of a pallet on which the article specified by the delivery instruction code is loaded from the plurality of entry / exit stations. Match the operation classification code of one receiving / exiting station
Based on the fact that the storage classification code corresponding to the unloading instruction code is different from the work classification code for identifying the picking area of the one loading / unloading station, a pallet for loading the articles to be unloaded is provided in the stacker crane. To the turntable on the way from the rack to the selected loading / unloading station,
Rotating the turntable in a direction in which the storage division area to which the article to be delivered belongs coincides with the picking area,
An automatic warehouse characterized in that the rotated pallet is delivered from the turntable to the selected entry / exit station.

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